


It's a Date

by LethanWolf



Category: Bleach
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Dating, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-28 05:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19387027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LethanWolf/pseuds/LethanWolf
Summary: Toshiro has a crush on the coffee shop girl but needs his best friends to help him make the first steps.A birthday fic for the wonderful Geishaaa <3 Happy Birthday bub!





	It's a Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Geishaaa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geishaaa/gifts).



> This has not been proofed I am so sorry and it's also not as long as I intended but the bang and life got in the way and I hope you still love it anyway!

Toshiro reached out in front of him and gently touched the top of his coffee cup. The smooth milk chocolate coloured liquid sat undisturbed with wispy hot air billowing from his surface. Toshiro didn’t usually drink coffee this late. Late being about 6pm in the evening after he’d finished University and managed to quickly grab some food.

Coffee this late usually kept him up until 1am, that’s why he preferred to drink tea. Green tea, camomile or even lavender and fruit blends were his favourite, but this particular coffee shop didn’t do good tea blends, in fact they were awful. Sometimes Toshiro would stomach them, just for something different to the caffeine that would be buzzing around his brain keeping him awake. So why not drink at another coffee shop? Why not go and get tea somewhere else, a blend he actually enjoyed?

Toshiro picked his coffee up and blew gently across the liquid in a bid to cool it before he took a small sip, his eyes flickering across the room and falling on the reason for his continued adventures here.

Rukia was the supervisor for Kuchiki Coffee, her brother Byakuya Kuchiki owned the shop. Rukia was flirty, funny, dangerous and completely out of Toshiro’s league, yet that still didn’t stop him from finding his way here every Tuesday and Thursday evening pining after her.

The girl in question was currently draped across the bar like a bad temptation, her ass sticking out at a sinful angle and the short skirt barely covering enough to not be deemed as entirely inappropriate. Toshiro knew he wasn’t the only one in the shop staring at her, and she knew it too. The slight tug of her lips told him that, she knew the effect she had on the guys around her though she continued to play woefully ignorant. That had always been part of her charm.

From what Toshiro had managed to figure out about the girl, she liked the bad boys. The only two exes Toshiro knew about were the polar opposite to him, one called Ichigo had been tall with light ginger hair, easily twice her height and smoked weed. In fact Toshiro knew through sources that Ichigo was the go to kid on the campus block if you needed your fixes.

Her last ex, Renji was even worse, taller and covered in tattoo’s, he also rode a motorcycle, a Softail Street Bob to be exact. He’d intimidated Toshiro the moment he walked into the coffee shop and had no issues with public displays of affection in front of everyone. Despite his appearance, Renji hadn’t seemed like a _bad_ guy. In fact he often worked closely with Byakuya and from what Toshiro had gathered he seemed to be doing most of his accounts for the family run business. They’d broken up when Byakuya walked in to find them in a full make-out session in the middle of the shop when Rukia was meant to be working, apparently it had been quite the display and Byakuya threatened to fire Renji who decided his job was more important than his relationship with Rukia.

Toshiro had not been present for the scene, but he’d been given a detail blow by blow from his two best friends, one of whom who slid into the booth opposite Toshiro.

‘You could at least pretend like you’re studying,’ the amused monotone voice washed over Toshiro and the white haired man smiled down into his coffee.

‘I am studying,’ he replied, his eyes lazily scanning the page of his physics notes.

‘Yeah right, you’re studying the gentle contours of Rukia’s ass-’

‘Shhh,’ Toshiro shushed him, finally glancing up and feeling the heat appearing on his face. Yukio looked elated, his one visible green eye shining under a mob of thick blond hair.

They’d met in class, both studying physics and both too shy to talk to anyone else. When a group activity had been called in pairs they were the only two left without a partner and the rest had been history. Yukio worked in Kuchiki Coffee as a barista, it was just a small part time job to help him afford the student accommodation. His family was well off but he’d not accepted a penny from them, determined that he was going to make it all on his own.

‘Where’s Rangiku?’ Yukio asked, sticking a finger in his ear and twisting it absentmindedly.

‘Getting her nails done,’ Toshiro sighed and pulled his coffee cup over, blowing on it again and taking another sip. The temperature was now perfect and wouldn’t add any risk to an oesophagus based cancer if he drunk more than just a sip.

‘Again?’ Yukio’s blond eyebrow shot up into his hairline.

‘She says she needs a new coat for a new week,’ Toshiro rolled his eyes.

‘It’s Tuesday,’ Yukio frowned, pointing out the exact same thing that Toshiro had said to his flat-mate that morning.

‘She “overslept,”’ Toshiro replied.

‘By a whole day?’ Yukio looked only incredulous for a moment before he simply smiled and shook his head, it was one of the quirks of Rangiku Matsumoto.

‘What are you “studying” anyway?’ the blond boy asked leaning over to try and get a glimpse at Toshiro’s notes.

‘Optics and Electromagnetism,’ Toshiro sighed, it wasn’t his favourite part of the course, he was better at the maths side and enjoyed it when it flared up.

‘I know someone who’s really good with magnetism,’ Yukio nodded his head and Toshiro frowned up at him. They were the top two students in the class, and Yukio had never mentioned another friend before?

‘Hey Rukia!’ Yukio called across the tiny space and Toshiro instantly felt his face heat up, he tried to aim a kick at his friends legs under the table but he was too short.

Toshiro refused to look round at the girl but he could sense her eyes on them from across the room, Yukio waving happily in her direction while Toshiro just wanted to die and slip and fall under the table. The sounds of approaching footsteps were heard and Toshiro tried to keep his eyes focused on the paperwork in front of him. He could feel his friend’s gleeful stare from across the table.

‘Yukio shouldn’t you be working?’ Rukia’s voice was like honey, sweet and soft but often contradicted by the things it said.

‘There’s no one here,’ he shrugged and Toshiro glanced up at the innocent look on his friends face, still refusing to meet Rukia’s eye.

‘Good point,’ she chuckled and then slipped into the booth sitting down right beside Toshiro. He moved to the left, closer to the wall to give her more space, the air between them felt like it was on fire and Yukio looked far too happy at the result of his meddling.

‘What’s up?’ she asked and Toshiro finally snuck a glance at her. Her raven coloured hair was tucked behind her left ear, showing off her full profile. She had the most adorable little button nose and thick black eyelashes. Toshiro was not prepared to be this close to her, his whole body tensed for whatever torture his best friend was about to put him through.

‘Toshiro is struggling to understand magnetism, I figured you could help,’ Yukio said it almost lazily, impassively and Rukia looked confused for a moment. ‘You have no trouble attracting guys right?’ he clarified for her. Rukia’s face relaxed into something a lot more flirty and she turned and glanced down at Toshiro’s book.

In that moment, Toshiro wished his handwriting was neater, not a scrawl up the page, he wished he’d not been meticulous enough to use colour coded sticky tabs at the top of his books because this particular page had a bright pink one at the top. Toshiro wished everything about this encounter wasn’t happening to him right now.

‘Attraction is pretty easy enough once you understand the mechanics,’ Rukia explained, that flirty edge returned to her voice that she only reserved for customers she wanted a big tip from, ‘if the girl you like is pretty feminine you just have to be the opposite, be the most masculine version of yourself.’ She leaned closer to him and Toshiro could smell the subtle perfume she used, the fabric softener that clung to her clean clothes.

‘Yeah Toshiro,’ Yukio was smirking at him now from across the table. ‘Be manly!’

Toshiro wanted to hiss at his best friend, because there was nothing at all manly about Toshiro Hitsugaya. He’d hit that awkward age where he was growing (but not as fast as he’d like) and he was scrawny and awkward with limbs that often felt too long for his body. Yukio told him he was being self-conscious and paranoid but he didn’t understand how competitive the market for female attention was, given that he was gay.

Yukio loved flirting with women, it was true, but as a gay male they often entertained him more than they would with straight men.

‘If it’s dating advice you want,’ Rukia said, her flirting edge of her tone disappearing, ‘I’m pretty good at it.’

She could maybe sense his discomfort and Toshiro could feel her twisting around so she was facing him. To do this she brought one leg up onto the shared seat and Toshiro could feel her bare skin pressing against his thigh. Rukia didn’t seem to care about the proximity though and he could feel her eyes on his face, forcing her to turn and look at her.

‘This girl you like,’ she started, blinking up at him like she had no idea how absolutely gorgeous she was. ‘Does she have a boyfriend?’

‘No,’ Toshiro mumbled, it was the first spoken word he’d spoken to her and she smiled now that he’d actually spoken.

‘Girlfriend?’

‘God I hope not,’ Toshiro mumbled, feeling the heat creep up his chest and across his face. She laughed at that, her voice a light tinkle of beautiful laughter.

‘Okay what about past boyfriends, what were they like?’ she asked, propping her arm on the table and slotting her beautiful chin onto it.

‘They were really brutish,’ Yukio chimed in, ‘like manly men. But they never treated her right, always treated her like she was second best.’

Toshiro nodded lightly to his comments because they were true, from what he’d observed being in the shop and the stories Yukio had told him.

‘Hmm,’ Rukia’s eyes became distant like she was looking at something far off, ‘sounds like to attract her then you just have to show her what she’s been missing with her other boyfriends.’ She shrugged and turned at the noise of the little bell perched above the café door. A small group of customers had just walked in, their hair and coats sparkling with freshly fallen raindrops.

‘Back to work,’ she said, shooting Yukio a look. He rolled his eyes but slipped out of the booth, stopping to throw a wink at Toshiro first. Toshiro watched them go back to work, his mind on her words. Show her what she missed from her other boyfriends? He snorted, glancing down at his notes and closing them over. There wasn’t a single thing he could offer her that they couldn’t. He didn’t come from a rich family, he didn’t have a lot of money, he wasn’t exactly attractive. Maybe he was slightly better educated but how would that help?

Toshiro sighed and finished his coffee with a face, knowing he was in for a long night and made his way back to his dorm.

The next week passed in the usual manner. He continued to go and get his coffee and tea, he continued to study and work part time in the small family run bookshop down the road. The older woman (Senga) who ran the shop insisted he called her Granny and he often would, despite them not being related. Senga was a sweet older woman, she had that old person smell, but not overpowering and vile, just present and grounding. She’d fuss over large volumes of books and suspiciously follow the young people around the shop, convinced they’d try to steal her precious collection of world war one memorabilia. Toshiro loved her.

Often he’d chuckle to himself as he watched Granny peering at some young shoppers over a pile of dusty old books. He loved working in this shop, it was perfect for a quiet bookworm like him. Granny would often let him borrow a couple and he’d always dutifully return them. She’d act annoyed when he asked to take another, muttering something about it not being a library but he’d always find the book he’d ask for beside his bag before the end of the night.

He told Granny about Rukia one day, when she’d asked if he had found someone to court yet.

‘She’s just pretty and out of my league,’ he sighed wistfully, pulling a book from the shelf and rearranging it in alphabetical order.

‘Nonsense,’ Granny replied, her voice steady and strong in its surety. ‘She’d be lucky to be courted by a smart handsome boy like you.’

Toshiro rolled his eyes fondly at the comment. Granny thought he was attractive but none of the other girls did, except of course his best friend.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than the sound of the little bell at the entrance tinkled and Rangiku’s voice run around the tiny shop like a rapper shouting obscenities in a church. A loud tut issued from Granny’s mouth and Toshiro moved quickly to the front of the shop to shush his friend.

Rangiku was tall, blonde and beautiful and she knew it too. The woman tossed her hair over his shoulder and beamed at him as he made his way over to the counter.

‘You look cute with glasses on, have I ever told you that?’

Rangiku wanted something.

Instantly Toshiro narrowed his eyes, suspicious and continued to eye her as he approached the front desk. To his dismay he saw Yukio step out from behind her and give a wave. This wasn’t good, whatever had brought the two of them here, meant Toshiro was in for a terrible time.

‘What do you want?’ he asked, his voice giving away his hesitation.

‘Just wanted to see my bestest friend in the whole wide world,’ Yukio grinned at him and Toshiro flinched.

‘What’s going on? You never ever call me that,’ Toshiro could feel a twisting in his gut, his fight or flight activated, but he kept still watching them with what he hoped was an intense gaze.

‘So…’ Yukio started and he shared a quick glance at Rangiku, ‘we should have spoken about how we were going to approach this.’

‘Yeah but we got distracted by that cute guy in the tight tank top walking in front of us,’ Rangiku reminded him.

Toshiro was aware they were now no longer speaking to him, but rather _about_ him.

‘How should we do it?’ Rangiku asked Yukio.

‘Rip the band aid off quickly?’ he offered back and the taller woman seemed to hesitate then nod.

‘Toshiro you have a date,’ she said turning and fixing her baby blue eyes on him. Toshiro dropped the book he’d had in his hand, thankfully he was standing beside the desk so it simply fell onto the desk instead of the floor. Still the thud sounded around the small cramped space and Toshiro stared incredulously at Rangiku.

‘No I don’t?’

‘Yes you do,’ Rangiku nodded like she was delivering some very vital news, ‘with Rukia Kuchiki, tomorrow night.’

Toshiro blinked and stared wordlessly up at her, opening and shutting his mouth a few times. His brain had shuddered to stop and he couldn’t even think straight.

‘Look, it’s my fault, sort of,’ Yukio made a face, ‘I told Rukia I knew this perfect guy for her, would treat her right and she started asking me if he was single and I said yeah you were and then she asked me to hook you two up on a blind date and Rangiku was there and everything spiralled out of control.’

‘We got you a date with Rukia Kuchiki,’ Rangiku beamed, ‘aren’t you proud of us?’

Toshiro wanted to throw up. But Granny would never forgive him because the desk was mahogany. His brain didn’t seem to want to properly start though, so he continually just stared at them open mouthed as the clogs worked hard to catch him back up.

‘Oh is that, that pretty girl you always talk about?’ Granny asked appearing like a phantom from behind a book shelf.

‘Granny!’ Rangiku beamed at the older woman, reaching over the desk to hug her.

‘Yes it is,’ Yukio chimed in, ‘and now he has a chance to make a real impression.’

‘I-I can’t!’ Toshiro managed to splutter.

‘Look Toshiro,’ Rangiku pulled back over the desk and fixed him with a serious look, ‘sometimes fantasy is great and some people are happy living in their imagination. But sometimes there comes a point where you just got to grab life by the balls.’

‘Very inspirational,’ Yukio commented applauding her lightly.

‘And this is one of those times. You might find she’s not the girl for you or this could be the start of something absolutely amazing. You won’t know until you _try_.’

‘You tell him beautiful!’ Yukio used his pet name he only ever saved for her when the two of them were tag teaming against Toshiro. The small white book nerd could feel his hands growing clammy and he could feel his legs shaking a little. How on Earth was he meant to take Rukia Kuchiki out on an actual date?

‘What the hell am I meant to d-do with her?’ Toshiro felt his voice splutter over the words, his eyes pleadingly staring at his best friends who had locked him into this situation.

‘Well, you’re meeting her at the Omni Centre, you know the one, with the giant metal dragon out front?’ Yukio said and Toshiro nodded, it wasn’t that far away from Kuchiki Coffee, only about a fifteen minute walk.

‘You’re meeting her there at 6pm, we wanted to give you time to get ready and we told her it would only be a couple of hours so if either of you decide it’s not good you can bail, but I’m sure it will be fine,’ Rangiku added quickly at the look on his face. Toshiro took a few calming breaths, trying to focus his attention on the wood he could feel under his hands and the way his feet were planted firmly on the wooden flooring.

He could do this, he could do this. It was just a date, just a date with Rukia Kuchiki.

‘What should I wear?’

Toshiro couldn’t believe his friends had managed to talk him into this ludicrous idea. He was a nervous wreck as he walked toward the giant stone dragon outside the centre. His fists were balled in his pockets and he was sure he was shaking so bad that other people walking by him could see it in the way he walked. Rangiku had decided to take him home that evening and help him pick out an outfit. He’d been so nervous he brushed his teeth three, possibly four, times. Toshiro ran a hand through his white hair, pulling his leather jacket more firmly over his shoulders in a bid to keep the heat in. He was possibly the most nervous he had ever been in his life and his old school vans kept scuffing the pavement with every other step. He wished that he hadn’t let Rangiku talk him into the skinny jeans, he was worried he felt too gay in them. They were Yukio’s favourite piece of his cupboard but that only added to the concern.

Thankfully they also looked like black suit trousers too, so with a shirt they looked fairly smart and that’s what he was going for. This wasn’t going to be anything extravagant, just dinner and a movie. He knew how much of a diehard Disney nerd Rukia was and he was going to use that knowledge to his advantage as the new Toy Story movie had only just come out that day. He’d already bought the tickets online, right at the back of the cinema where there would be less kids to annoy them, hopefully.

His hands shook as he opened one of the large glass doors to the centre. It was wide, open and inviting, unlike most centres which had shopping this one was purely for entertainment and fun, hosting indoor activities such as snowboarding, ice skating, bowling, food and drink and of course the cinema. It was the perfect place for a date and the prices didn’t break the bank either, the Vue cinema was doing a deal where seats were only £5, and of course Toshiro got his student discount as well.

His hand clamped around his bank card, reminding him that it was there and it was fine when he spotted her. He’d arrived on time but she’d obviously arrived a little earlier.

Rukia looked stunning. She knocked all the breath from his lungs standing beside one of the white pillars of the building in a pale blue and white floral dress. She had flat shoes on, her hair beautifully pushed over her shoulder as she glanced around. Toshiro stood for a second watching her while her attention was diverted away from him. She seemed oddly vulnerable, standing waiting and Toshiro had the horrible image of her thinking she’d been stood up. It was that thought that forced his legs to move and he stepped forward. Her eyes turned to the sound of approaching footsteps and she blinked for a second in confusion.

Toshiro had a horrible moment of panic of being rejected straight away, before he had even had a chance to take her on the date, but her face broke into a cheeky smile that reached her eyes and he relaxed, though his heart was still thrumming wildly in his chest.

‘Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr Attraction,’ she smirked and Toshiro spluttered and flushed. They were off to a great start, if only he could get his mouth to work properly but it was so difficult while she was standing there smirking at him.

‘I-well, I am sorry,’ he started quickly and she blinked in confusion, the smile slipping slowly from her face, ‘I mean, my friend told you and you were probably expecting someone else.’

‘Are you apologising for being you?’ she blinked at him and Toshiro went back over what he’d just said in his mind before stopping to laugh uncomfortably.

‘Yeah I guess I am,’ he rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck and something in Rukia’s body language seemed to relax at these words.

‘Well there’s no need for that, what kind of date did you have planned?’ she asked, ‘because I’ve got a couple of ideas if you weren’t sure?’

‘Well I was thinking some food and a movie?’ he offered, now regretting his decision because he wasn’t sure he could really stomach anything.

‘I had a large lunch, but I’m happy to grab a drink if you wanted some food?’ she said.

‘No, um, that’s fine, let’s just do a drink?’ he nodded to a bar across from them and Rukia smiled, which encouraged him to lead the way.

The chat was a little awkward at first. Thankfully Rukia was kind and seemed to be giving him the benefit of the doubt but Toshiro couldn’t stop the pressure he was putting on himself to perform. Guys had to perform, it was their one primary function when it came to the female species and he was floundering. If this were a nature documentary any other female would have left by now, unimpressed and unsatisfied by his display.

But Rukia stayed, she stayed through the first drink, through the second and into the third, where the alcohol seemed to be providing him with confidence enough to talk less about the weather and more about real life topics. It was helpful that Rukia’s body language was open, she was willing to give this a genuine chance it seemed and Toshiro was beyond grateful for it.

‘So why Engineering?’ Rukia asked, fishing for her olive from her martini glass and chewing it while watching him with those intense violet eyes.

‘I’ve always been fascinated by planes,’ Toshiro shrugged, ‘I wanted to work as a pilot in the RAF but figured I’m not, you know, manly enough for that, so I figured putting the planes together and fixing them would be just as cool.’

Rukia quirked a brow at him, the toothpick hanging from her lips making her look both cute and intimidating at the same time, a deadly combination.

‘Men put way too much pressure on themselves, you should relax, who gets to say what is and what isn’t manly?’ she challenged.

‘Well,’ Toshiro felt the alcohol giving him a little nudge of encouragement, ‘what would you say was manly?’

Rukia smiled at him, the little bit of wood rolling in her lips and drawing his attention to them for a split second.

‘Personally, I’d say it was the small things. Being kind to people, stopping to help the old lady with her shopping bags because you have the strength and she doesn’t. Being the guy who climbs a tree to save a cat that’s gotten stuck because you can and it can’t get down without you. Those kind of things, in my eye, makes someone manly.’

‘That’s an interesting way of looking at it,’ Toshiro blinked at her, he’d never really thought of it like that. Of course he’d have been the man in both those situation she described because he’d never watch an old lady struggle, or a cat be stuck. But he’d never ever thought of it being something he could do because he was a man and an abled young man at that. He’d always just seen it as his duty to the human race.

‘If you have any tales of saving cats,’ Rukia said pulling the little bit of wood from her lips and popping it back into her empty glass, ‘that would instantly secure this as the best date of my life.’

Toshiro sat up a little straighter in his seat because, of course he did!

‘I have a rescue kitten called Hyroinamru.’ Toshiro said and Rukia stopped fidgeting with her glass to listen intently. ‘He was obviously the runt of the litter, had a heart stammer and someone thought it would be better to just drown him in a bag, only they didn’t do a good job of it and he was at the side of the river when I found him. Took him to the vet, cost me a bomb but I decided even if he was someone else’s kitten he wasn’t ever going back to them. I’d fight them for custody if need be.’

‘Congratulations,’ Rukia said with a nod of her head, ‘not only is this officially the best date I’ve ever been on, but you’re by far the manliest guy I’ve ever been on a date with.’

Toshiro hadn’t realised how much he’d needed to hear her say something like that and he relaxed at once a soft smile breaking out over his face and a flattered flush creeping up his cheeks.

‘Would you- would you like to see some pictures of him?’ he asked, his hand half in his pocket ready to take his phone out.

‘Of course I would,’ her voice had gone a couple of octaves higher and Toshiro hurriedly took out his mobile phone. One photo after the next were swiped across his screen, images of the grumpy and sully little one eyed Hyorinmaru. Rukia gushed at each new image she was presented with and seemed genuinely interested in the other random images from his gallery that would pop up as he swiped. Thankfully he didn’t have any nude pictures stored anywhere on his phone though he did have to hastily explain away an image he’d been sent from his group chat with Yukio and Rangiku when she’d sent them a picture of her new bikini. 

Rukia was very clearly a cat person, she cooed over every single image of the little white cat. Toshiro was glad and it seemed to break the last of the tension. He almost lost track of time but thankfully had set a reminder for the cinema which popped up on his phone.

‘What are we going to see?’ Rukia asked as they made their way over to the ticket printing machine.

‘It’s a surprise,’ he grinned down at her and she smiled, she reached out and took his hand, entwining their fingers.

Toshiro felt a thrill go down his spine and couldn’t stop the grin from forming on his face. Her fingers were much warmer than his, and he relished in the feeling of each little warm digit set meticulously between his own. The feeling helped ground him and chase away a little of the anxiety that was threatening to overpower him. He pushed it to the back of his mind, letting his thumb slowly stroke over the back of her hand and led her toward the right screen number.

‘I always think cinemas look like entrances to spaceships,’ she commented and Toshiro laughed. She had a point, the décor was dark grey almost black and the doors were lit with pale blue lighting that also led toward the bathroom.

‘I can see your point,’ he said glancing around as she looked up to the information above the door to their screen.

‘Toy Story!’ she squealed and he grinned sheepishly at her.

‘Is that okay?’

‘Yeah! Of course it is!’ her eyes were round with excitement and she bounded in, leaving him to quickly follow her after holding the door open.

The screen was filling up, couples with kids but none of them looked young enough to cause any glaring concerns. Toshiro led the way to the back and Rukia raised an eyebrow at him, smirk tugging at her lips.

‘Were you expecting more than just watching the movie?’ she asked and Toshiro spluttered in embarrassment.

‘N-No I just didn’t want kids kicking the back of our chairs!’ he rushed to explain and Rukia was already laughing at him, slotting into the seat beside him and leaning toward him over the arm rest that separated them.

‘I’m just teasing,’ she chuckled and Toshiro tried to calm his embarrassment but it wasn’t that easy. It took a number of commercials and trailers before he’d calmed down, mentally kicking himself for not paying attention to the seats better because he didn’t want her to think he was here to try anything at all with her. That wasn’t his intention.

Rukia had already forgotten though and leaned over to chat excitedly to him about the upcoming Lion King remake that had flashed up on the screen. He’d not seen any trailers for it but it did look good and he vowed to take her in his mind, if this date went well.

They didn’t speak at all through the movie, but toward the end he did have to bite the inside of his lip and glance away from the screen to try and refocus his mind and not tear up. Toy Story had a habit of hitting people in the feels, regardless of the movie, even in the second and third films there had been such beautiful genuine character building moments.

When the credits rolled, Toshiro turned to see Rukia looking a little upset by the movie and had another moment of doubt at this idea.

‘That was amazing,’ Rukia said her voice thick with emotion and he held his hand out sheepishly for her to take. She took it with a grin and they made their way out of the cinema discussing the movie in great detail before realising that there were no other plans for the evening.

They found themselves back where they started, beside the large white pillar and Toshiro felt awkward, not quite knowing what to do.

‘Do you want me to walk you home?’ Toshiro offered after a moment’s hesitation.

‘Oh you don’t have to do that,’ Rukia said shaking her head, ‘I’m not that big a believer in the traditional roles.’

‘I like walking,’ Toshiro smiled, and he knew from Yukio that Rukia didn’t stay that far away from his little book shop where he worked. Rukia finally agreed and they set off at a leisurely pace down the path.

Conversation flowed more easily and Toshiro had felt the alcohol hit him a little more during the movie due to lack of food but now with the fresh evening air he didn’t feel like he’d had a drink at all.

‘So you still live with your brother?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, hoping to move out soon though, he can be really suffocating at times, but I’m just saving to be able to afford everything when I finally do move,’ Rukia answered.

‘Will you have a flat mate or are you thinking of going solo?’ it was such an adult question to ask but Toshiro wanted to know everything about her as they walked hand in hand down the street.

‘I’d love to live solo, but I think my brother would be so worried about me he’d move back in,’ she made a face as she spoke and Toshiro laughed. They continued amicably as they wandered down the quiet streets. Most people were tucked away for the evening, but there were the odd people walking a dog and a few people stood at bus stops tapping away on their phones while they waited. The evening was slow and lazy, the sun had recently vanished and so Toshiro and Rukia walked slowly as they spoke.

When they finally arrived at the door, Toshiro glanced up at the windows. Rukia lived in a house above the shops, a house that extended from the first floor to the second floor, while the shops took up the residency of the ground floor.

He felt more awkward now and had been dreading this moment for a few reasons. He didn’t really want to say goodbye but he was also nervous because he wasn’t sure if he should kiss her or not. Rukia had been giving him good signals that day but what if she didn’t want him to kiss her? It was something people often did at the end of dates right?

Toshiro could feel the colour creeping up his neck and across his cheeks as he finally met her eyes again. She had a playful smile tugging at her lips, like she sensed his internal dilemma and seemed to be enjoying it. He tried delaying the situation.

‘Well here we are…’ he mumbled.

‘Yup, this is my place,’ her voice was cheerful, which meant she knew _exactly_ what his internal dilemma was. Rukias smile had turned into a full grin and he huffed at her.

‘You’re not making this easy,’ he muttered.

‘Making what easy?’ she tilted her head innocently but that grin was still in place on her face.

Toshiro must have looked really pathetic because after another cruel moment Rukia took charge. The grin on her face slipped into a smile instead and she slipped her hand out from his but moved closer. Toshiro could feel his blood thrumming in his veins as she came closer.

‘I had a really great night,’ she smiled, placing a hand comfortably on his chest. She was so close now that he could count each individual eyelash.

If she said anymore words they were lost on Toshiro who now only had eyes for her lips, his hearing malfunctioning as the blood rushed passed his ears. Rukia tilted her chin up and Toshiro closed his eyes following her lead.

Their lips met and it was better than Toshiro could ever have imagined. Her lips were smooth, plump and delicious and he melted against her. He had no clue what to do really, but she took the lead and he followed, finding his arm wrapping around her thin warm waist to draw her closer. It was sweet and tender and neither did anything to deepen it, instead Toshiro pulled back when he felt Rukia doing the same thing.

‘So when are we going back out?’ she was grinning up at him again and Toshiro felt like his heart skipped a beat.

‘Next weekend?’ he said before he could stop himself.

Another smirk tugged at her lips and she nodded.

‘It’s a date.’

And with that she turned and unlocked the blue door giving him one last smile from over the top of her shoulder and then she was gone. Toshiro stood outside staring at the dark blue wood of the door for a good ten minutes before he finally walked away.

Only he didn’t quite walk, so much as skipped. His heart was jumping in time and before he could stop himself he had the biggest grin ever on his face, his whole body felt alive and on fire like he’d just run a marathon. It was addictive, she was addictive and he knew he was well and truly under her spell now.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Geishaaa!


End file.
